tion in the UK. The fact that EPS is mandatory
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has not been a significant restraint on sales: 'Even rental companies accept it for contract customers,' says Sullivan. "We are not seeing many secondhand 1735s coming up for sale in this part of the country. Many of our customers have their head offices in the London area but their vehicles may be based in other parts of the UK. There were some repossessions last year but they have all gone now.
All of the last dozen 1735 tractive units sold by Normand have been specified with air suspension on the drive axle. Sullivan thinks that the cab would look a lot bigger if Mercedes-Benz only fitted the one bunk.
Outside the 1735 has some advantages over its competitiors: the slightly higher under-bumper valance is not as deep and so is less likely to ground on the kerbs or on ferry loading ramps.
We asked Nick Shenton, sales manager for independent dealer Malcolm Harrison of Stone, Staffs, about general availability of the 1735 and how much an early model would cost now.
"There are not many about — we haven't been offered any over the past few months," he told us. "EPS is beginning to be accepted now although people were a bit reluctant at first. The list price was £49,500 for a 1735 in 1988 and since then many will have covered about 580,000km (360,000 miles). To buy an F-reg example to-day you would have to pay about £14,000 to £15,000." By modern standards the Mercedes-Benz 1735 cab looks small on the outside and, with two bunks as standard, it is certainly cramped on the inside for regular long-haul operations.
The 14.6-Litre turbocharged vee-eight diesel engine offers a good compromise between power and fuel economy, and mechanically it should give no special cause for concern. EPS is liked by drivers and apparently no longer presents reliability problems for the operator, but Mercedes spares are not the cheapest on the market.
Secondhand models look like good value if you can find them — but in the present economic climate few good examples are being released onto the market.
0 by Bill Brock